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WHAT HAPPENED: The Cardinals dominated the last few minutes of the first half to take a 40-32 lead into the break, but MSU's defense was overwhelming from there — Louisville had a total of six baskets in the second half and overtime, and three were Terry Rozier steals for lay-ups. The Spartans used a 14-2 run to take a 57-51 lead on a Travis Trice three-pointer, but the Cardinals fought back to take a 64-63 lead with 1:13 left. Marvin Clark Jr. responded with a basket, then missed two free throws. Louisville's Mangok Mathiang was 1-for-2 at the line with 4.9 seconds left to send the game to overtime. And the Spartans owned overtime.

MARCH BELONGS TO IZZO, AGAIN: Tom Izzo has reached his seventh Final Four in his 18th straight NCAA tournament. He is 7-2 in the Elite Eight and 21-4 in the second game of an NCAA weekend. When he gets to Indianapolis, he'll try to improve on his 2-4 record in the national semifinals and get to the championship game for the third time.

MOST OUTSTANDING: MSU senior guard Travis Trice was named Most Outstanding Player of the East Regional after scoring 79 points in four games (19.8 points per game) and hitting huge shots and free throws to lift the Spartans. He had 17 points and five assists in 44 minutes Sunday, and he hit all four of his free throws — two with 10.1 seconds left in overtime to end all doubt. He is 16-for-18 from the line in the tournament.

BENCH HELP: Bryn Forbes played huge again for MSU off the bench, scoring the first points of overtime with a corner three and finishing with 14 points in 33 minutes. Clark had five points and two assists in 18 minutes, and Matt Costello did more before fouling out in 20 minutes than his stats (six points, three rebounds, two assists) suggest.